Machine for the ornamentation of welts



June 18, 1940. J. H,OZA

MACHINE ron THE ORNAMENTATION 0F WELTS Filed Nov. 5, 1938 fw/e/vraa Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR THE ORNAMENTATION OF WELTS John Hoza, Zlin, Czechoslovakia 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for the ornamentation of a welt made from a pretreated strip, particularly of leather. The respective treatment therefor, chiefly concerns the 5 upper visible surface of said strip.

Heretofore, ornamentation of welts has been effected in such a way that the strip at certain intervals became engaged with a mill, cutting grooves in the shape of parallel flutes in the upper surface of the welt. Such milled grooves have been impregnated with some coloring material and then smoothed out. A welt made in such a Way will not be durable, since the mill will split the walls of the said flutes. As soon as the welt gets in contact with moisture, the flutes will absorb the water and the surface of the welt will become rough and tarnished.

The machine according to my invention will remove the said deficiencies. In a manner known adjustable grooves and ridges profiled to choice. Thereupon, it is carried on a toothed cylinder turning in an impregnating liquid to which some pigment or dyestufi has been previously added, so

that a colored background is obtained on the welt previous to the dyeing proper of the said leather strip.. The impregnated, that is, color pretreated welt is then carried on rollers, in which passage the leather strip will gradually absorb the water adhering thereto and the excess of water will evaporate. Then, the welt is carried on a device which smoothes the surfaces of the said flutes, and then to a dyeing device where it is preferably treated with wax color, then dried again, surface smoothed, further dried and finally burnished.

In the drawing, an embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example, in which drawing Fig. 1 is a partly sectional view of the machine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section of a detail of the machine shown on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the drying apparatus;

Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a plan and a section of the fluted welt, full size. I

To a frame I of the machine are fitted all the machine elements (not shown in the drawing) necessary for driving the various treating ap paratuses. The upper surface of the machine is provided with covers 2 adapted to be tilted and rendering accessible the devices located within the said hollow frame. To frame I are also fastened all the machine elements for treating the strip.

per se the strip is scalloped, that is divided into' The pre-tr'eated strip of leather is carried through the machine from left to right; its way being indicated by arrows. On the left end of the machine is located a feed pulley 3 which feeds the strip l into the machine. This said feeding pulley is preferably connected to a cutter' 4, which is removably, eccentrically and adjustably mounted on the said pulley. Such adjustment is necessary in order to obtain the depths desired of the flutes, Whenever re-grinding of the cutter 4 has become necessary. Above pulleys 3 and t, which are located in the hollow frame l of the machine and of which pulleys only the uppermost parts of their peripheries project above the table-shaped surface of the frame, a pressure pulley 5 is pivoted to column '7. The said pressure pulley is forced against the surface of the strip and thus against the pulleys 3 and 4 by a spring (not shown in the drawing) provided within the hollow column. The action of the said pulleys will be described subsequently. The strip grooved by the cutter or mill is then carried to an impregnating and pre-coloring device substantially consisting of a toothed moistening wheel, the teeth of which have the same pitch as the spacing of the grooves produced on the strip, so that when the strip is fed through the machine the teeth of the wheel will mesh with'the flutes of the strip, and the liquid within a trough into which dips the rotating moistening wheel, penetrates into the grooves of the strip. Behind the moistening Wheel 8 there is arranged a devive I ii for pre-drying the strip, which device carrier superposed rotative rollers 9, over which the strip is carried. Behind the device there is arranged a device It by means of which the surface of the flutes is smoothed. Regarding its design and action this device Ill is similar to the feeding device 3, wherein, however, the pulley l8 which corresponds to the feeding pulley is not provided with a cutter pulley. Behind the device H], !8 is mounted a dyeing apparatus substantially comprising a wheel H which applies color to the strip. To this dyeing apparatus is connected a drying device l2 which is similar to the pre-drying device IS. The strip is then fed to a device for smoothing the surfaces of the flutes, which device co-operates with a wheel 39 of the same design as wheel II, then to another drying apparatus Hi and finally to a device it, 20, the

purpose of which is to burnish the strip.

The operation of the cutter 4 and feeding pulley 3 respectively is the following:

The cutter 4, which has been adjusted to the desired cutting depth,.cuts spaced flutes (shown in Figs. 4 and 5) into the surface of the leather strip. Due to the eccentricity of the cutter rela tively to an arbour to which it is fastened by means of the feeding pulley 3, the cutter will engage the leather strip only during part of its revolution. During the remaining part of the revolution of the cutter, the strip Will be advanced by one space. Such motion is caused by the feeding pulley 3 provided with a quick pitch thread whose depth corresponds with the spacing of the strip flutes so that the feeding pulley will engage the flutes of the leather strip in the manner of a Worm wheel. The feed pulley 3 has a non-interrupted motion and carries a forwardly moving thread. This thread has the same form as the cutter of the cutting ring 4. Considering the malleability of the leather and coarseness of the thread of the feeding pulley, it does not matter that the flutes cut into the surface of the strip of leather are vertical relatively to the side edges of the said strip, while the thread fillets of the feeding pulley are a little inclined. In this connection it should be noted that the distance between the knife edge of the cutter 4 and thread of the feeding pulley 3 must be a multiple of the spacing of the welt. Thus, the strip is fed into the machine by the feeding pulley. The same action is however effected by pulleys I8, i9, 29, which on the one hand serve as carriers, and, on the other hand under the influence of the pressure of associated pulleys 5 will press their worm threads against the walls of the strip flutes. The wheels l8, I9, 20 are constructed similar to the feed pulley 3, only the operations of these pulleys vary according to the kind of ornamental welt desired.

Due to the fact that the pressure of successive pulleys 5 co-operating with pulleys l8, I9, 20 progressively increases, so that the pressure of the pulley i9 is more intensive than that of pulley i3 and pressure of pulley 2U stronger than that of pulley $9, an ever-increasing burnishing action is carried out so that, finally, a glossy polish of the strip of leather will be produced in the device 15. To promote such effect coloring in the dyeing device H takes place by means of a wax color, which due to the action of corresponding pressure will produce a glossy surface of the strip of leather. In order to obtain a thorough drying of the strip in the intervals of the separate processes the strip is carried repeatedly over rollers 9, to which purpose these rollers are given the length required (see Fig. 3) and are subdivided by means of flanges H. The right passage of the strip is ensured by guides 23. In general, the pulleys l8, I9, 20 could be applied for varnishing, flattening, plating and other similar work.

The main advantage of the machine according to the present invention is that the strip made in the manner described will perfectly resist moistening, and that the strip will not expand nor become discolored. Work of the said machine will progress quickly and economically, all the necessary processes taking place during the passage of the strip through the machine taking place in fast succession.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for the ornamentation of a leather strip welt, a frame, a cutter supported by said frame for grooving the surface of said strip, a feeding device for said strip, devices for dyeing, drying and smoothing said strip of leather after being worked upon by said cutter, a tank for containing an impregnating and pre-dyeing liquid, a wheel, over which said strip is trained, upwardly projecting from said tank, a first drying stand adjacent said tank, a device for smoothing the walls of said grooved strip, a dyeing device adjacent said first drying stand, a second drying stand, an apparatus for further smoothing the surface of said strip, a third drying stand, said strip passing through said stands and said dyeing device, and a device producing a glossy polish on the surface of said strip.

2. In a machine for the ornamentation of a leather strip welt, a frame, a rotating cutter having a knife for grooving the surface of the said strip and supported by said frame, a rotating cylindrical feeding pulley, said cutter being eccentrically and adjustably mounted on said pulley, said pulley having a male thread whose pitch corresponds with the spacing of the grooves of the strip, the distance between the knife of the cutter and thread of said pulley being a multiple of the spacing of the grooves of the welt, a tank including a toothed Wheel and for containing an impregnating and pre-dyeing liquid and from which tank part of the periphery of the wheel projects upwardly, a first drying stand connected to said tank, a device for smoothing the walls of the strip grooves, a dyeing device for said strip adjacent said first stand, a second drying stand, a device for further smoothing the surface of the strip, a third drying stand, said strip passing through said stands and said dyeing device, a device for producing a glossy polish on the surface of the strip, pressure pulleys for resiliently forcing the strip upon said cutter and said devices for smoothing and polishing the strip, and pulleys mounted on the said devices and provided with male threads meshing with the grooves of the strip.

3. In a machine for the ornamentation of a leather strip welt, a frame, a rotating cutter including a knife mounted on said frame for providing the surface of the said strip with grooves, a rotating cylindrical feeding pulley, said cutter being eccentrically and adjustably mounted on said pulley, said feeding pulley having a male thread whose pitch corresponds with the spacing of the grooves of the strip, the distance between the knife of the cutter and thread of said pulley being a multiple of the spacing of the grooves of said strip, a tank including a toothed wheel and for containing an impregnating and pre-dyeing liquid and from which tank part of the periphery of the wheel projects upwardly, a first drying stand connected to said tank, a device for smoothing the walls of the strip grooves, a dyeing device for said strip, a second drying stand, a device for further smoothing the surface of the strip, a third drying stand, a device for producing a glossy polish on the surface of the strip, pressure pulleys for resiliently forcing the strip upon said cutter and said devices for smoothing and polishing the strip, pulleys mounted on said devices and provided with male threads meshing with the grooves of the strip, and resilient means in said smoothing devices and said polishing device and, the force of said resilient means successively increasing in said respective devices, said dyeing device being adapted to hold a wax color, said drying-stands being provided with rollers subdivided by flanges.

JOHN I-IOZA. 

